Gerhardt speaks on historic season, Glasner explains Trapp's goal post repair
VfL Wolfsburg captain Maximilian Arnold the squad's surprise new leading goalscorer spoke to German broadcaster DAZN following the team's Sunday 2-2 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
SGE trainer Oliver Glasner, meanwhile, explained how a curious scene involving keeper Kevin Trapp fixing an unanchored goal-post came about.
Not for the first time this season, VfL Wolfsburg have a new surprise leading goalscorer. At one point, the overlooked younger Nmecha brother Felix found himself tied with Patrick Wimmer for the top spot in WOB scorer points this season. After scoring a goal and registering an assist during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Frankfurt, the almost forgotten former German youth international Yannick Gerhardt shares that honor with Wimmer.
SGE trainer Oliver Glasner, meanwhile, explained how a curious scene involving keeper Kevin Trapp fixing an unanchored goal-post came about.
The 28-year-old former Köln academy man finds himself in the midst of his best personal season. His sixth goal league goal of the campaign catapults him to the top of the squad's goalscoring list. It also happens to be the formerly more defensive-minded midfielder's highest scoring total in his entire career.
"I've never managed to score six goals, not even in the A-Youth," Gerhardt admitted in his post-match interview with German broadcaster DAZN, " I'm trying to expand on that, today I had more chances. The next step would be for me to grab a brace."
One would have certainly thought that strikers Lukas Nmecha, Omar Marmoush, or Jonas Wind would be leading the team in goals scored at this point in the season. While that trio haven't done poorly (four goals apiece), Gerhardt has knocked in more than captain Maximilian Arnold and the resurgent Ridle Baku (five goals apiece).
Gerhardt set-up Marmoush's fourth league goal of the campaign brilliantly in the 10th. He then smashed home a Wimmer direct free-kick with a dazzlingly won aerial duel two minutes from the stroke of halftime. Gerhardt had several chances to add another goal later on.
"That he's so strong in the air is new news to me," skipper Arnold told his DAZN post-match interviewer, "He played a very good game. He always makes deep runs and has an amazing feel for certain spaces. The [assist] the first goal shows his class; the way he played [Marmoush] in that deep."
"I haven't actually changed all that much," Gerhardt said of his late career renaissance, "I occupy the box a little more intelligently and thus get myself into dangerous areas more frequently. At the moment I'm also getting good passes."
Besides Gerhardt, the other major story of the match had to be a bizarre scene shortly after kickoff during which Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp was called upon to fix an uneven goal post. SGE trainer Oliver Glasner confirmed to the DAZN mics that it was his "eagle-eyed" assistant Michael Angerschmid who spotted the discrepancy.
"At first he thought it was an optical illusion," Glasner divulged, "We're already at an age where you don't see quite as well. But it was real. I also said to Niko Kovac 'The goal is a bit too high on one side'."
After the two coaches informed match official Daniel Schlager that the right post was too high, the ref went over to Trapp in order to inform him of the problem. Trapp himself admitted that he had no idea what Schlager wanted at first.
After Trapp pulled the post back into its moorings with some impromptu pull-ups, both goal-posts were restored to their proper height of 2.44 meters (eight feet). The proper width of 7.32 meters (23 feet and seven inches) also fell back into place.